The recap and notes from Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers were significantly less glowing than most of the other viewpoints available. I was happy with the two points and acknowledged the importance of results, but I was not high on the level of play. The Daily Cup of Joe from Thursday assessed the team by position and was also candid and quite mixed. Today’s Daily Cup of Joe goes the other direction and names seven things that I like about the 2017-18 Carolina Hurricanes through four games.
On the surface, the collection of widely different viewpoints over a short period of time might look schizophrenic. But maybe that is exactly right for a sample size of four games that has run the gamut from high scoring to unable to generate offense at all and from sound and steady defensively to intermittently struggling.
The Thursday Coffee Shop opens the floor for readers to weigh in on whether the season thus far has been half full, half empty or oddly some both.
Carolina Hurricanes polls
Please remember to click ‘vote’ after each individual poll question.
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Discussion questions
1) What have been the biggest positives through four games?
2) What are the areas of greatest concern through four games?
3) Which players have stood out positively and/or negatively through four games?
Go Canes!
1. Positives: Darling, Pesce, Slavin, Nordstrom, and finally back checking
2. Offense against solid checking teams. We’ve scored 9 goals against backup goalies and their teams aren’t strong defensive teams. Scored 2 against strong defensive teams and their starters. It has me concerned especially playing inside of our division. The scoring chances in the two, one goal games weren’t great either. The forwards would throw the puck at the net and hoped something got by.
Another concern- RHD depth. The 3rd line hasn’t been pretty since TVR went down.
3. Covered all the positive players in number one. Negatives about players:
Rask- outside of the wicked goal in the first game, he has been invisible on the ice. His lack of presence makes a lack of a deal for a center look worse
Faulk: his shot is off, really off. His lack of scoring magnifies his defensive issues.
But hey its 4 games in, everything could change over the next 4.
Off topic, but I noticed that TT doesn’t have a player tag on the right of the page with the rest of the players, but both Eutus do.
1. Positives: Slavin, Darling, the 4th line
2. Concerns:
Scoring. We’ve got solid D and goaltending now but that can only carry us so far; as evidenced by our two 2-1 loses. I’m hoping the game in EDM has sparked the team and given them some confidence to start generating offensively on a more consistent basis.
The PP. Our PP was awful through the first 3 games; less so against EDM. I know it’s still early but if we are going to live up to expectations that is one area that definitely needs to see improvement.
3. I’m incredibly biased as he is my favorite player but Slavin has been outstanding through the first 4 games. He is the backbone of our defense and the only player on the team to have played solid in all 4 games in my opinion.
I don’t really have any overwhelmingly negative feelings about anyone at this point. Outside of Slavin and Darling I don’t think anyone has played consistently well or poorly. Expanding on number 2, we just need our top guys to be a little more consistent. Overall I think we’ve had a good start; at 2-1-1 it’s certainly better than seasons past and I’m feeling confident about CGY tonight.
1. Positives
Goaltending
Top pairing D
Nordy/Kruger chemistry translating to the PK and the 4th line (regardless of whether it is McGinn or Jooris)
Is this the best 4th line in the league???
Peters showing initial patience to keep his original lines together than doing the reshuffling which seemed to be a positive
Staal and Lindholm on the PP
Staal has shown no letup in moving the puck through the neutral zone and into the O-zone.
Slavin’s contributions to the offense
Depth at forward
2. Areas of concern
Power play
Consistency in seeking out and generating quality scoring chances
Lack of depth in D
3.
Positive players:
Slavin
Darling – looks as good as advertised
Ward – showed he can step in and perform as a backup
Slavin
Hanifin – with his co-related confidence and assertiveness; seem less afraid to make a mistake and has developed an NHL level shot
Kuokkanen – consistent high performer on Ryan’s line who was one of the only players to generate quality chances against the Jets
Slavin
Fleury – quietly competent in his rookie year
Pesce – you don’t always notice the work he is doing in the D-zone
Slavin
Negative players:
Necas – you want to believe this guy can make the team; it’s a great story and if you meet him (I had a chance to chat with him briefly) he is a great young man with a lot of desire to play; as impressive and fast as he is when he has the puck on his stick he hasn’t been able to finish or help his linemates finish and his defensive positioning has been questionable
Carrick – not surprising to me because I have never seen him as a NHLer; but he has demonstrated our lack of depth on the blue-line
Dahlbeck – I was hoping that he would have worked on his right-side play knowing he was the 7th D and would be called upon to play right
Faulk – mostly inconsistency and lack of offensive production (plus his new Moe’s commercial gave me the boot! LOL!)
Rask – I see him working his butt off on ice, but not seeing results
Aho – say what???; he has looked out of place on Staal’s line and, in general, as a winger
Williams – he looked more complete in preseason as a puck-hog; his work along the boards is solid but I was expecting more
I am hoping that it is just a question of Rask, Faulk, Aho, and Williams getting started this season – but they should have all been ready to go.
I was just reading Michael Smith’s Tweetmail and he reminded me of one shift for the Aho-Necas-Lindholm line in the Edmonton game that cycled and dominated in the offensive zone finishing with a strong pass to Aho, who whiffed on the one-timer. I remember how impressed I was by Necas on that shift – it was NHL quality. And that could have been the “finish” for Necas – sometimes one play makes that type of difference in outcome. If Aho had shot and scored we would be talking (or I would be at least! 😀 ) about how awesome Necas looked.
Yes, that was a fantastic shift for them and I was very surprised Aho couldn’t finish there.
As far as skating and stick handling goes I think Necas is at the NHL level now. In the above mentioned play we got to witness some of his hockey sense; but he still needs a lot of work on face-offs and in the D-zone. One thing that really stood out to me was his lack of size; he was getting manhandled every time he couldn’t find open ice to skate. I think another year of top-line minutes in the Czech league/AHL/CHL and strength training will do wonders for him.
1) The strongest area has been the transition and the goaltending. There have been turnovers on the transition as there are bound to be, but compared to other teams (other than CLB who did better at this) I believe the Canes truly do have a stacked D corps especially for the Eastern conference style of play. The top 4 all possess the ability to exit the zone, and Slavin and Pesce are a notch above the other two. I can’t wait to see TVR back because in the preseason he looked so solid, a ‘clone’ as Haydn Fleury would put it, tight gap and quick out of the zone.
2) Scoring. Everyone has said what needs to be said about scoring. The Canes will have to be a team that battles for every goal all season long with not enough primary offensive weapons. Some of the best offensive players are on the blueline which is good but need to see some more out of the forwards.
3) I’d say I have been satisfied with the play of almost all of the roster so it’s easier to point out the players who haven’t looked good:
– Justin Williams – he is in the right spots and makes the right decisions but wow does he look slow out there always seems to have a defender right on him…
– Derek Ryan – The concerns that he is not a top 9 calibre player, potentially not a roster player at all, are becoming more real in my opinion. Clearly intelligent player who has offensive upside, but gets physically outmatched every night and isn’t really a guy that can boost the scoring numbers of his teammates I think instead he drags down Skinner a bit.
– Sebastian Aho – Not overly concerned as he has looked good at times, but the Canes need his production and him being quiet doesn’t help.
p.s. I think everyone is being too hard on Faulk. He is firmly the #3 dman on this team, and for a #3 dman we are spoiled to have him in that role. His defense has never been a strong suit and considering it is the beginning of the season and guys like Pesce have made their fair of gaffes too, i’m not too upset with Faulks play. Part of his defensive play is also the fault of Hanifin who still seems like his 1 on 1 defense is a big issue. I just don’t expect Faulk to be great defensively, but I think he’ll improve to an average or passable level with good offense soon.
1) What have been the biggest positives through four games?
Individual play, meaning players have taken over at times. Jordan (Edm) – Skinner (Every Game but Edm) – Slavin (every night)
2) What are the areas of greatest concern through four games?
We don’t look good. I’m sorry, but outside our top D pair, Jordan and Jeff… Its concerning. Our 4th line looks very solid and its our most consistent line. We havnt sustained a high level of play and the puck possession that we have in the past under Peter’s system. We look sloppy, we look slow, we look unskilled at times too.
3) Which players have stood out positively and/or negatively through four games?
I’m concerned about our D. Everyone wants to say how great we are.. but we gave up 50 shots on goal last game. that’s right 50! Not perimeter shots either… We have been outplayed in every game this year.
Slavin/Pesce are legit top pair and top end in the league and I would put them up against any forward line in the league without fear.
Faulk – not sure why he looks like he regressed in the last 2 years but if he isn’t contributing on the score sheet its going to be a problem long term. Ive never expected him to shut down the other teams best.. but he has done that. there was a streatch where he looked like he was going to contend for a Norris is 2 years.. well ist been 2 years and that dominating go take the puck guy looks confused at times.
Hanifin – You can see the tools there and it looks like he is going to be a really good player, just when is the corner coming, how long are we going to hope?
Fleury – I’m impressed with the kid. looks like he will be a good player. I have liked parts of his game and he has been fairly consistent.
TVR – Not enough to know.. but looked like he was going to be a solid D in our system. Still and unknown for us, but if he gets going and Fluery and TVR gel like it looked like they could.. I might feel more comfortable with that pair then the Faulk Hanifin pair.
So, the D has concerns all over it minus the top pair. I cant even fathom loosing Slavin or Pesce for any extended time. We aren’t as deep as everyone touts. We have a lot of promise and potential… but they come with ifs attached. So ask the “if” right now… IF ALL OF OUR D-MEN NEVER IMPROVE FROM WHERE THEY ARE PLAYING CURRENTLY, WOULD WE HAVE A GREAT D CORE? The answer to that is NO!
I don’t have enough energy to get into the forwards…
Skinner can take over at anytime
Jordan so solid
It’s easy to think about the issues of our d-corps with an internal perspective. However, take a look at the other d corps in the Eastern Conference and find me a list that you’d take over the Canes current group both in the present time and for the future. There are not too many teams that can boast a solid top 4. The Leafs are a top 5 NHL team, the Pens won the cup last year, and both of these teams have used RON HAINSEY as an ‘upgrade’. Whereas we were in the situation where Hainsey had become expendable to an extent and we have younger faster better guys to fill his role. The problem with the Canes is not the d-corps, it’s the team offense.
Positives: Elias Lindholm…he’s gotten better every game and really came on against Edmonton. Ward embraced his chance and did pretty well. Haydn Fleury and Noah Hanifin (after game 1) have both looked like 1st rounders. Despite not scoring until last game, Teravainen has mostly played very solidly. I’ve been impressed with Kuokkanen and would like to see him get some PP time. Slavin and Skinner go without saying, but Pesce quietly goes about his business of being a very good defender.
Negatives: Aho’s shot is off more than Faulk’s….I think he’s trying to do too much. He is playing very well defensively and he and Lindy have been our best defensive forwards. PK is still finding its legs. Justin Williams is trying too hard, but he’s on the edge of something. Peters treatment of Rask needs to change. Victor needs to get settled in on a line and get used to his linemates. I like that this will be his second game with the same line (Aho and Lindy). Rask has played well away from the puck, but needs to keep his offensive head in the game. Our passing game is mostly off…you could see signs of the crisp, tape-to-tape stuff coming late in the Edmonton game (and with Staal’s feed for Lindy’s goal).
Standouts – Lindholm has gotten progressively better with each game. Skinner, too, is playing well. Late in the Edmonton game he made a couple of basic, smart passes. One of the things that helped his scoring in the second half of last season was his ability to see and feed open men. It makes him that much more dangerous as teams can’t totally collapse on him. I look for that to resurface. Slavin’s offensive game, if it continues to come, will keep he and Pesce together…where they should be. It also allows Faulk to play with Hanifin and despite both of their areas of weakness, they just seem to work well together.
1. Biggest plus: Goaltending, tenacity in O-zone, overall good starts
2. Biggest concerns: Too much puck bobbling
3a. Player pros: Darling, overall team defense, 4th Line
3b. Player cons: Faulk’s indecisiveness at times causing turnovers, Aho’s slow start